The Official Writing Challenge
BACK TO
CHALLENGE
MAIN
INSTRUCTIONS
how it works
submission rules
guidelines for
choosing a level
ENTRIES
submit your entry
read current entries
read past entries
challenge winners
Our Daily Devotional HERE
Place it on your site or
receive it daily by email.


TRUST JESUS TODAY

  • Share
  • how it works
  • Submit
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Mother (as in maternal parent) (04/24/08)
“Mom can fix this,” I said as I picked up the flat squirrel from the street. “Mom can fix anything,” my brother agreed. Mom later told us that this was one of the hardest times she had with us. We had tears when she told us it was beyond help. Poor Squirrel. Dead. Stiff. But Mom can fix anything.

Mom spent her teen years during the Great Depression. Her father was an alcoholic, working at many different jobs. Her mother, true to the times, spent her hours caring for house and kids. During my childhood years Mom would share the fun stories of life.

How Mom only had one pair of shoes at a time that she wore for Church. The rest of the time they went barefoot. Going to school meant that you wore this pair of shoes. “I did not wear the shoes going to and from school as I would wear them out. I carried them to school, put them on when I got there. Took them off to come home from school.” Mom continued, “I was a little girl, walking by the woods. I was sure I heard a bear coming after me. I ran and ran. The noise kept coming, so I threw my shoes for the bear to eat, hoping the bear would leave me alone. Boy did I get a spanking for that one.”

Only after I grew up a few years did Mom tell some of the stories of the dark side of life. Her mother was very abusive. Mom fought this trait all her life with her own children. They had an Uncle live with them for a while, who sexually abused Mom, then threatened to kill her if she told. He was a WWI vet so Mom believed him. “I used to run out into the farm fields to get away from him.”

Mom’s mother developed a brain tumor while mom was a young teen. This meant that Grandma spent months in the hospital at different times. In a rare brain operation at that time, Grandma had the tumor removed and survived. During all of these months in the hospital Mom learned to Fix Things. She became the pseudo-mom to her brothers and sister. Mom learned to Fix Life for her ‘family’ during those long months. She kept a positive attitude. “Sugar was scare in those years,” she would relate. “But I did not care. My little sister loved fudge. So I took all of the sugar we had in the house and made fudge for dinner. Anything to make life easier and funner for my sister.”

Mom married my dad when she was 17 years old, to escape the trauma of home life. Four children later she was divorced and on her own. In the 1950s the courts were not as attentive to dead beat dads, forcing the payment of child support. Mom became a single mom when it was not popular to be a single mom. “I made my life the way it is. I love you children. I will not, not take any form of government help!” Thus Mom worked 14 hour days to support her growing family. Her life consisted of broken dreams, but she would Fix the Dreams as best she could.

My youngest brother popped into our family from Mom’s affair with a married man. He later broke his promise and returned to his wife. That is the only time I saw Mom cry. Mom Fixed this Broken Promise by going back to school, earning a degree in accounting so that she could better the life situation for her kids.

I had been married for 4 years when my Mom visited my sister, a missionary in Brazil. On this special trip, Mom had her Life Fixed by the Savior. “I realized that while I have done a lot of good things, I have done a lot of bad as well. Those I cannot fix on my own. I don’t have to fix things on my own anymore.”

Mom died on Christmas morning two years ago. She got to celebrate the King’s Birthday in person. Now, her life is Eternally Fixed.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 605 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Janice Cartwright
05/02/08
What a hard life your Mama had. I am certain there are so many stories out there of similar tough times and how people met those times either growing from them or allowing them to overwhelm and destroy them. Thank goodness your mother had her mind and heart opened to her Savior and also how wonderful she chose to better herself and her family with education.
Yvonne Blake 
05/04/08
I liked your title and the way you kept the theme throughout the whole entry.
You showed your mother's strength as she endured all the trials of her life.
This is well written. Good job.
Carol Sprock
05/04/08
I did like all the different "fixes" in your mom's life, especially the Savior. I think each one of your paragraphs could be its own story--there is so much depth and emotion in each.

Carol